Umbrella rib tip



' UMBRELLA RIB- TIP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nos 26, 1948 INVENTOR.

ITTORNEY M y 1951 M. A. MERGENTHEIM, JR 2,551,277

UMBRELLA RIB TIP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 26, 1948 INVENTOR. MORTONFl. MERGENTHE/M JR.

HTTORNEY Patented May 1, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims,

This invention relates. to improvementsin urnbrellarib-tips.

One of the objects of this invention isin a de-- vice of the characterspecified to produce a tip structure which will not be limited in lengthto the difference in length of the fabric in normal and stretchedconditions. by utilizing a safetytip comprising, a primary tip portionof conventional length and-standard socket having a conventionalthread-receiving bore, in; combination with an elongated auxiliaryextension portion formed integrally with said primary portionandprovided with an extension socket in axial regis; tration with thesocket of the primary-- portion anda longitudinally-disposed opening-inthe wall ofthe auxiliary extension-portion communicating with saidextension socket but positioned. out of registration with the plane ofmovement of the Wing-apex by the hinged rib, and preferably atsubstantially a-right angle to'said plane of move-. ment and inalignment with the axis of the thread-receiving bore, which in thepreferred embodiment of my invention isalso positioned at a right angleto the plane of movement of said wing-apex. A- tip of this-type'will befirmly and securely held onthe rib While the tip is connected to thecover and will not come oi? the end of their rib even though the'fabricofthe wings be stretched beyond the aforesaid-differential limit.

Another objectoi my invention is to provide integrally with the tip bodyan elongated auxe iliary extension-skirt portion for the purpose of'greatly lengthening the socket to prevent any possibility of said memberslipping off the rib, and in order to enable mounting thereof in sub-.stantially conventional manner to provide said extension portion with alongitudinal side. slot that is positioned out of alignment with theplane of movement of the wing-apex by the'hinged rib, and preferably atsubstantiallya right. angle to said plane of movement and in alignmentwith the axis of the thread aperturetopermit initial projectiontherethrough of the top portion of the rib while the connected tip ispartially rotated, axially, and while so rotated to retract said rib endand slip it into the socket in the body portion, and then while sorotated to stretch the fabric and slip the endof the rib intothe socketin the body portion so that on release of a tip and wing of the cover,the said side slot will move axially with the connection between the tipand wing apex. This connection is prefer-v ably through a transversethread bore which: will automatically swingback into its normal positionthat is transverse to the opening and closing. movements of'said apex bythe hingedrib and tangential to the circle formed by said cover apices.Said side slot; is preferably arranged in vertical alignment with saidbore, will move therewith and will thus be moved into a position at anangle to and out of alignment with, the plane of movements of said apexby the. Said hinged umbrella rib.

Still another object of my invention is to DIG-r.

vide in the bottom of the extension-skirt member a bottom notch alignedwith'a side slot to permit engagement and partial extension of the shankof the rib thereinto during theprojection oi the same through the sideslot.

Still another object of-my invention is to provide the member with acollar portion below the slot which forms a secondary safety element; toprevent unseating or slipping of th tip. from e ib.-

With these and other objects in View, the in:

vention comprises the combination of members.

and arrangement of parts so combined as to coact. and cooperate witheach other in the per-.- formance of. the functions and th accomplish=ment of the results herein contemplated and comprises in one of itsadaptations the species; or preferred form illustrated in theaccompany-. ing drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation ofan umbrella tip embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2 .2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 31 is a. bottom end view on the line 3? of Fig. 1 looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Fig. {l is a section on the line 4-4 of' Fig. 1 looking in the directionof the arrows;

Fig- 5 is a. longitudinal section of my. tip stitched to an umbrellaWing and shown in initial twisted position over a rib end with the ribend entering the bottom notch in the operation of mounting the tip;

Fig. 6 is a similar sectional view showing the tip tilted back frominitial position to cause the rib end to pass through a slot in the.skirt of the tip;

Fig. 7' is a. similar sectional view showing the tilted position of thetip j st before insertion of the rib end into the head socket of thetip;

Fig. 8 is a similar sectional view showing the, rib end inserted in thehead socket with the tip still in twisted or rotated position;

Fig. 9 is a similar sectional view showing the rib end inserted'in theheadsocket. and released. from twisting'stress;

3 Fig. 10 is a section on the line Ill-l of Fig. 8 looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Fig. 11 is a section on the line ll-ll of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 12 is a modified form of tip having a spirally arranged slot and awide bottom notch.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 11 of these drawings, which illustrate apreferred embodiment of my invention, l indicates an ornamental umbrellatip embodying my present invention and 2 indicates a conventional coverfor an umbrella provided with conventional wings 3 to which myornamental umbrella tip is, in the operation of mounting, initiallyfastened in conventional manner by stitching the tip to the wings.

In accordance with the preferred form of my present invention, each ofthe tips comprises a primary head portion I and an elongated auxiliaryskirt portion I formed integrally with the head portion I. Said headportion i is provided with an ornamental spherical head portion 4 andbelow the said head has a conventional transverse thread-receiving bore5 adapted to receive the thread in the initial fastening of the tip tothe Wings 3 of the umbrella, and is also provided with an internal axialsocket 6 adapted to receive the rib end which is usually of reducedcross-sectional dimensions, while my integral auxiliary skirt portion lis provided with a communicating axial socket I preferably of widerdiameter than the socket 6 and connected there-' to by a frusto-conicintermediate section 8.. The integral auxiliary skirt portion I iselongated and, as illustrated, comprises a cylinder having a length muchgreater than the difference between the ends of the fabric wings intheir normal condition and such ends in any position to which such wingsmay be stretched, and consequently the end of an umbrella rib, which isusually metallic, could not, if the skirt comprised a cylinder withcompletely closed walls, be inserted through the bottom thereof.

' It will be obvious that it is highly desirable, in order to preventthe possibility of slipping of the tip off the rib end, to have a tipwith an integral auxiliary skirt portion so as to cause the tip to belonger than the aforesaid difference in stretched and normal conditionsof the wings, and in order to enable the use of an elongated integraltip of the type specified, I have, in the preferred embodiment of myinvention illustrated, provided my integral auxiliary skirt portion,first, with a bottom notch 9 and, secondly, with a side slot W inlongitudinal alignment therewith, and said notch 9 and slot III are bothpreferably arranged out of registration and preferably at a right angleto the plane of movement of the wing apex by the hinged rib, and in saidpreferred embodiment said slot and notch are arranged in a plane whichis in vertical alignment with the axis of the thread-receiving bore oropening 5 and to the thread-passing through said opening 5 by which thetip is attached to the wings of the umbrella. In applying or mountingthe tip of the preferred form of my invention to the rib end, the wingwith the tip attached is first pulled upwardly to stretch said wing inconventional manner, but in accordance with my present invention thewing and tip are at the same time rotated or twisted and the tip istilted into varying positions relatively to the rib end and to theconnecting thread to enable the passage of the rib end through theauxiliary skirt portion and into the socket of the primary head portion.In the preferred form of my invention, the tip 4 is twisted and tiltedinto the position shown in Fig. 5, so as to cause a bottom notch 9 of atip to engage the top of the contracted end l2 of the rib and thereafterthe tip is, while still being twisted, tilted backwardly and moveddownwardly to cause the end of the rib to pass through the slot [0,after which the rib is further tilted as shown in Fig. 7 while beingreleased to move downwardly to permit the rib end to extend upwardly inthe slot I0 and inwardly toward the axis of the skirt portion, andfinally while the wing and tip are still partially twisted to move thetip and/or rib to insert the mounting end of the rib into the headsocket 6, as shown in Figs. 8 and 10. Release of the twisting stresswill then cause the tip to assume the positions shown in Figs. 9 and 11in which position the slot ID will be out of registration and preferablyat a right angle to the plane of opening and closing movements of thewing apex by the hinged rib, and in said preferred embodiment theposition of said slot will be arranged in a plane which is in verticalalignment with the axis of the thread-receiving opening or bore 5,whereupon the tip will be mounted securely in position on the umbrellarib and even though the wings are subsequently stretched and releasedcontinually, the elongated integral skirt portion will prevent anypossibility of slipping of the tip ofi the rib.

In accordance with the preferred form of my invention, the slot I0 iswholly formed in and extends through the side of the integral skirtportion IP and internally said slot communicates with the axial socket 1of said skirt portion. This construction provides on the skirt portionbelow the slot ID a rib encircling collar portion l I which surroundsthe shank of the rib and securely holds the tip against excessiveswinging motion. This collar II in combination with the slotted integralskirt l forms a secondary safety element which will avoid anypossibility of a slip ping of the tip off the rib.

In conventional tips, a mere re-stretching of the wing sections islikely to unseat the tip, but in the case of my instant invention eventhough the material of the wings be stretched to their full elasticlimit, the tip will still be retained in the auxiliary skirt portion sothat when the umbrella is opened a normal stretched condition of thecover will occur and the rib will again enter the head socket withoutany slipping of the same off said rib because instead of the singleconventional stretching of the cover-wings, mounting of the tip of mypresent invention involves an additional twisting of the tip and wingsas well as a tilting of the tip and, therefore. the possibilities of thetip slipping off of the rib are immeasurably reduced. On the other hand,when desired a tip may be removed from the rib by manipulation in areverse direction from those used in mounting. An umbrella provided withmy tip will therefore be just as repairable as the umbrellas withconventional tipped ribs. It will be noted also that the head portion ofthe tip and the skirt portion are connected by a frustoconicintermediate portion, which, in the attachment of the tip to the rib,will enable more ready movement of the rib from the enlarged axialsocket 1 to the head socket 6. It will be seen also that the bottomnotch 9 in alignment with the slot ID will provide means for initiallyaligning the rib with the slot and will assist in retaining the same inposition during a further fastening manipulation of the tip. It will beobvious that the angular position of the slot l0 may be varied withrelation to the thread and the threadreceiving opening 5 so that theslot may, instead of being in alignment with one side of the opening 5,be only moved half way but in all cases the slot and notch 9 Will be inalignment, and the slot will be out of alignment with the axis of thethread-receiving opening.

In some cases and with some forms of ribs, the shape of the slot is mayitself be changed, and in Fig. 12 I have shown a modified form of myinvention in which a slot it is in substantially spiral form. Obviously,in any such form the notch 9 will be widened to permit the rib end l ito be inserted within the slot us and the tip to be rotated with the ribend seated therein. In other respects, the construction shown in Fig. 12is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 11.

Having described my invention, I claim: 1. An ornamental tip forumbrella rib comprising, in combination, a primary tip portion having alongitudinal axial socket, means for connecting said primary tip portionwith the wing apex of the cover of an umbrella to cause movement, whenthe tip is mounted on the rib, of the tip and said cover apex in thevertical plane of the hinged opening and closing movements of said rib,and an auxiliary skirt portion integral with said primary tip portionand having a socket continuous with the socket of the primary tipportion, said integral auxiliary skirt portion having in the wallthereof a longitudinal opening out of registration with said plane ofopening and closing movements of said rib and wing apex and adapted topermit manipulation of the tip in relation to the rib during themounting of the tip on said rib.

2. An ornamental tip for umbrella rib comprising, in combination, aprimary tip portion having a longitudinal axial socket, means forconnecting said primary tip portion with the wing apex of the cover ofan umbrella to cause movement, when the tip is mounted on the rib, ofthe tip and said cover apex in the vertical plane of the hinged openingand closing movements of said rib and an integral auxiliary skirtportion provided with a socket continuous with the socket of the primarytip portion and having in the wall thereof a slot wholly contained insaid wall.

3. An ornamental tip for umbrella rib comprising, in combination, aprimary tip portion having a longitudinal axial socket, means forconnecting said primary tip portion with the wing apex of the cover ofan embrella to cause movement, when the tip is mounted on the rib, ofthe tip and said cover apex in the vertical plane of the hinged openingand closing movements of said rib, and an integral auxiliary skirtportion provided with a socket continuous with the socket of the primarytip portion and having in the wall thereof a slot wholly contained insaid wall, said slot being arranged out of registration with the planeof opening and closing movements of said wing apex and adapted to permitmanipulation of the tip in relation to the rib during the mounting ofthe tip on said rib, and a notch in the bottom edge of said skirtportion in alignment with said wholly contained slot.

4. An ornamental tip for umbrella rib comprising, in combination, aprimary tip portion having an ornamental head and a transversethread-receiving opening below and adjacent to said ornamental head forconnection of said primary tip portion to the wing apex of the umbrellacover, said transverse thread-receiving opening being positioned atsubstantially a right angle to the plane of opening and closingmovements of the said rib, and an integral auxiliary skirt portionprovided with a socket continuous with the socket of the primary tipportion and having in the wall thereof a longitudinally-disposed slotwholly contained in said wall, said slot being arranged substantiallyparallel with but out of registration with the plane of opening andclosing movements of said wing apex and adapted to permit manipulationof the tip in relation to the rib during the mounting of the tip on saidrib.

5. An ornamental tip for umbrella rib comprising, in combination, aprimary tip portion having an ornamental head and a transversethread-receiving opening below and adjacent to said ornamental head forconnection of said primary tip portion to the wing apex of the umbrellacover, said transverse thread-receiving opening being positioned atsubstantially a right angle to the plane of opening and closingmovements of the said rib, and an integral auxiliary skirt portionprovided with a socket continuous with the socket of the primary tipportion and having in the wall thereof a longitudinally-disposed slotwholly contained in said wall, said slot being arranged substantiallyparallel with but out of registration with the plane of opening andclosing movements of said wing apex and adapted to permit manipulationof the tip in relation to the rib during the mounting of the tip on saidrib, and a notch in the bottom edge of said skirt portion in alignmentwith said wholly contained slot.

MORTON A. MERGENTHEIM, JR.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Morton Feb. 17, 1948Number

